Concerns About Dust?

Dust?!

Although seemingly harmless, dust can wreak all sorts of havoc in the future if its buildup goes unchecked. A layer of dust can act as an insulator on some components or on heatsinks, reducing their properties to radiate heat. Additionally, dust can clog up small vents or openings that are needed for air circulation. Finally, dust can interfere with a system's moving components, such as the smaller fans found on CPUs. Of course, you're not going to see this in a week of having your case cover off, but it is one of those things that gradually builds up over time.

Dust is relatively easy to get rid of, though. A quick and easy way is to get a can of compressed air that many computer stores sell. These bottles just shoot a stream of air at a decent velocity, and usually come with a thin straw-like attachment, which is good for getting in those hard-to-reach places. A monthly or even every-other-monthly air cleaning can really help get rid of dust buildup. The areas that you should look out for when doing your dusting are usually in and around vents, the blades of fans, around peripheral cards, and anyplace that is in the direct flow of a decent amount of air. Canned air can be purchased from some computer stores, office supply stores, or office supply catalogs.

Otherwise, another more permanent solution to using "canned air" is the small vacuums that are being created specifically for use with computers and electronic equipment. These are not special technology vacuums, they are just smaller units that have smaller attachments which allow for more precise cleaning. These can be found in some office supply stores and catalogs, and possibly in larger computer stores.

There is another step that can be taken as well. There is light paper that can be used to trap dust, similar but not the same as the filters used in those air cleaners for the house. You would want to use a light, porous or "breathable" paper. This filter paper is then placed at the air intake vent. The paper is going to slightly reduce the amount of air that can be sucked in by the intake fan, but this is the tradeoff that must be realized in order to keep a relatively dust-free system. The difference in airflow should be pretty nominal, though. If your system is in a dusty environment, then you may want to consider this method as a viable option.